Introduction Kindergarten Grades One and Two   Lesson One     Experience One     Experience Two     Experience Three   Lesson Two   Lesson Three Grades Three and Four Online Games and Activities Culminating Experience Train Glossary National Standards		Grades One and Two: Lesson One - Experience Three The Music of the Rails >> Resources What do songs tell us about trains? In this experience, students develop skills in performing a song together and explore the meaning of the sounds and words of traditional train songs. Objectives: Experience Three will enable students to: Increase their vocabulary by learning and using train-related words. Sing simple traditional songs from memory with a group. Sing together on pitch with appropriate beat, dynamics and phrasing. Consider the ways songs are used in everyday life. Examine the messages in songs, like the ballad of John Henry. You will need... Materials: Music and lyrics to traditional songs Visual 5: Down by the Station, Visual 6: I've Been Working on the Railroad, and Visual 7: John Henry, CDs or tapes of train songs Time: Two 30-minute periods Words: More powerful than a locomotive... Railroad, a cappella (without accompaniment) Focus Questions: Use these questions to help students focus on key ideas in Experience Three. Why do people make up songs about trains and railroads? How are traditional songs similar to and different from popular songs today? Singing on the Railroad Indiana's Academic Standards: Grade One: Music Standard 1: Singing alone and with others (1.1.2, 1.1.4); Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing and describing music (1.6.2); Standard 8: Understanding music in relation to history and culture (1.8.3). Language Arts Standard 1: Reading (1.1.1, 1.1.2). Grade Two: Music Standard 1: Singing alone and with others (2.1.2); Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing and describing music (2.6.1); Standard 8: Understanding music in relation to history and culture (2.8.1). Language Arts Standard 1: Reading (2.1.8). Procedures: Day One: Play "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Have students listen and identify high and low pitches by using hand motions. Practice singing the song together a cappella. Help students sing on pitch, maintain the beat and use appropriate dynamics and phrasing. Day Two: Place the lyrics on the overhead projector and help students match oral words to printed words and identify letters, words and sentences. Identify compound words, such as railroad. Discuss the meaning of the words with students. This may have been a "work song" sung by people building America's railroads more than 100 years ago. Have students listen for the rhythmic patterns in the music. Do the patterns remind them of the sounds they might hear as workers swing their hammers? Have students compare a favorite song from the present with "I've Been Working on the Railroad." How are the two songs similar and different? Assessment: After practice, all students will participate in singing the song together. Performance Criteria: Students should be able to: Sing the song a cappella while remaining on pitch. Maintain the beat and use appropriate dynamics and phrasing. Discuss the meaning of song lyrics and possible uses of the song in the past and present. Train of Thought Journal: Ask students to think about why people building the railroads created and sang songs about their work. Ask students: If you were going to sing a song about your work at school what would you sing about? Would your song be happy or sad? How could it help you in your work? For their journal entry, students can write down their song with teacher help, draw a picture of their song, or write down or draw their ideas for song topics. Tips for the Teacher: Experience Three helps students develop skills in performing vocal music as they consider the role music plays in everyday life. This is an excellent opportunity to work with the music teacher as students are introduced to new songs and musical works from other cultures. Students of all ages will enjoy singing "Down by the Station" as an "echo" song or as a round. As students in Grades One and Two learn "I've Been Working on the Railroad," they can begin learning work songs from other cultures and times. The tradition of singing work songs to make hard, cooperative labor easier came to America from Africa. Workers improvised and mixed preexisting lyrics and melodies to match the rhythm of the specific job. The origins of this song are unknown. It may be based on folksongs of the Irish and African-American workers building railroads in the last half of the 19th century. The workers were organized in work crews or "gangs" under the supervision of a leader, called a "captain." "Dinah" may be the camp cook who blows a horn to call workers to meals. The story of John Henry is presented here in one of its early musical versions. John Henry was a steel driver who did the dangerous job of pounding holes into solid rock so that a railroad tunnel could be blasted with dynamite. The song may have begun as a series of short stanzas sung by African-American railroad workers. It eventually evolved into a long ballad with many versions and stanzas that were handed down from one worker or musician to another. This version was first written down around 1900 and probably was based on earlier songs. Because it is so long, only a few stanzas are provided. See Resources for Web-based John Henry sources. Bonus - Extending Experiences: Have students: Use musical instruments or objects from the classroom to create a rhythmic pattern that sounds like a train. (Music - Standard 5: K.5.1, 1.5.1, 2.5.2) Create a class song about work at school to the melody of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Create a work song, a song about a famous person or a short song based on a story. Help write the words or the melody. (Music - Standard 5: 3.5.1, 4.5.1)